SelenaQuintanilla Wiki:Policies and guidelines
Selena Wikipedia policies and guidelines are developed by the community to describe best practice, clarify principles, resolve conflicts, and otherwise further our goal of creating a free, reliable encyclopedia for Selena. There is no need to read any policy or guideline pages before starting editing. If you do not agree with any of the rules presently or would like to make substitutes, please state them on the talk page where consensus will be made. Although Selena Wikipedia does not employ hard-and-fast rules, Selena Wikipedia policy and guideline pages describe its principles and best-known practices. Policies explain and describe standards that all users should normally follow, while guidelines are meant to outline best practices for following those standards in specific contexts. Policies and guidelines should always be applied using reason and common sense. This policy page specifies the community standards related to the organization, life cycle, maintenance of, and adherence to policies, guidelines, and related pages. Rules Civility Incivility – or the appearance of incivility – typically arises from heated content disputes. *''Explain yourself''. Not sufficiently explaining edits can be perceived as uncivil, whether that's the editor's intention or not. Use good edit summaries, and use the if the edit summary doesn't provide enough space or if a more substantive debate is likely to be needed. *''Be careful with user warning templates''. Be careful about issuing to editors you're currently involved in a dispute with, and exercise caution when using templated messages for newcomers. Consider using a personal message instead of, or at least in addition to, the templated message. *''Try not to get too intense''. Other people can misread your passion as aggression. Take great care to avoid the appearance of being heavy-handed or bossy. Nobody likes to be bossed about by an editor who appears to believe that they are "superior"; nobody likes a bully. *''Avoid editing while you're in a bad mood''. It does spill over. *''Take a Real-Life check''; disengage by two steps to assess what you're about to say (or have just said). Asking yourself "How would I feel if someone said that to me?" is often not enough, many people can just brush things off, and it's water off a duck's back. So, to get a better perspective, ask yourself: "How would I feel if someone said that to someone I love who can't just "brush it off?" If you'd find that unacceptable, then don't say it. And, if you've already said it, strike through it and apologize. *Just because we're online and unpaid doesn't mean we can behave badly to each other. People working together in a newspaper office aren't supposed to get into punch-ups in the newsroom because they disagree about how something's worded or whose turn it is to make the coffee. Nor are volunteers working at the animal rescue centre allowed to start screaming at each other over who left ferrets in the filing cabinet or the corn snake in the cutlery drawer. In fact, there's pretty much nowhere where people working together to do something good are allowed to get into fist-fights, shouting matches, hair-pulling or name-calling. Same applies here, too. *Someone may very well be an idiot. But telling them so is neither going to increase their intelligence nor improve your ability to communicate with them. *No matter how frustrated you are, do not tell people to "grow up" or include any wording along the lines of "if this were kindergarten" in your messages. Remember you can't go back and change them! Do *Be clear about what you did, so that other editors can assess it quickly *Use neutral language *Be calm Don't *Make snide comments *Make personal remarks about editors *Be aggressive Assume good faith Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on Selena Wikipedia. It is the assumption that editors' edits and comments are made in good faith. Most people try to help the project, not hurt it. If this were untrue, a project like Selena Wikipedia would be doomed from the beginning. This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of obvious evidence to the contrary (vandalism). Assuming good faith does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice. When disagreement occurs, try to the best of your ability to explain and resolve the problem, not cause more conflict, and so give others the opportunity to reply in kind. Consider whether a dispute stems from different perspectives, and look for ways to reach consensus. When doubt is cast on good faith, continue to assume good faith yourself where you can. Be civil and follow dispute resolution processes, rather than attacking editors or edit warring with them. If you wish to express doubts about the conduct of fellow fans, please substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for your concerns. Although bad conduct may seem to be due to bad faith, it is usually best to address the conduct without mentioning motives, which might exacerbate resentments all around. Be careful about citing this principle too aggressively. Just as one can incorrectly judge that another is acting in bad faith, so too can one mistakenly conclude that bad faith is being assumed; exhortations to "Assume Good Faith" can themselves reflect negative assumptions about others. No personal attacks As a matter of polite and effective discourse, comments should not be personalized. That is, they should be directed at content and actions rather than people. In disputes, the word "you" should be avoided when possible. However, when there are disagreements about content, referring to other editors is not always a personal attack. A posting that says "Your statement about X is wrong because of information at Y", or "The paragraph you inserted into the article looks like original research", is not a personal attack. Or sometimes you could say instead—"The paragraph inserted here DIFF into the article looks like original research", which also is not a personal attack, and avoids referring to the other editor in the second person; providing the DIFF also cuts down confusion. Similarly, discussion of a user's conduct or history is not in itself a personal attack when done in the appropriate forum for such discussion (the user's talk page, etc.) Editors should be civil and adhere to good Selena etiquette when describing disagreements. The appropriate response to an inflammatory statement is to address the issues of content rather than to accuse the other person of violating this policy. Accusing someone of making personal attacks without providing a justification for your accusation is also considered a form of personal attack. Policies Citing sources and identifying reliable sources Finding sources can be very exciting! Especially finding out something new about Selena and something you can share with your friends. Here at Selena Wikipedia, if we want to build a comprehensive Wikipedia, we have to cite sources. Citing sources are hard to learn as a beginner editor. When you find a source (google.news, google.books, documentaries, magazines, books, etc.) you can add it to the article. For an example, "Selena has sold over 21 million copies worldwide", this would need a source to verify this claim. The first step is to find a source that can back up your claim about Selena selling over 21 million copies, all you have to do is search on the Internet. Please only use reliable sources, a reliable source is a source that can be found on known magazines such as Billboard, People, US Weekly and other reliable sources. Secondary sources, such as offline print media (books, magazines, etc., that can not be verify on the Internet) is also acceptable, do not abuse the Selena Wikipedia. The second step is to use the right template to add the source in. If the source is a book then you would want to use Template:Cite book, a magazine use Template:Cite journal, a newspaper or online news article use Template:Cite news, documentaries use Template:Cite episode , for a list of cite templates see list of cite templates. The third step at adding a source is to follow the directions found at the template. If you need help remember to contact an admin for help. Now that you have filled in all the fields in the template, add this code to the beginning of the template. Now add this code will end the template. The fourth and final step is to save your work. Now you have verified that Selena has sold over 21 million copies. For a detailed step-by-step and how to, please click on the templates of choice. Notability Even though this is a Selena Wikipedia, you might want to create different topics that you would like to talk about. However, we only allow Selena-related articles on this Wikipedia. So please do not create articles about yourself, hobbies, other favorite famous/notable person, things you hate/like, list of dubious and non-related Selena things, fancrut, and other articles that wouldn't be associated with Selena. Please do not create articles about suspected unreleased/recorded music/albums and other Quintanilla family members who are suspicious of being a related a family member. All these articles will be nominated for deletion. Users who continue to do create these articles may face being blocked as its not being constructive. If you are not sure of the notability of a article you may wish to create, please advise someone by leaving a message on this talk page, which is located on the top of this page titled "discussion"; and someone will be able to answer your question. Original research Please do not add original research to any article. The term "original research" (OR) is used on Selena Wikipedia to refer to material—such as facts, allegations, ideas, and stories—for which no reliable published source exists. That includes any analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not advanced by the sources. To demonstrate that you are not adding OR, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are both directly related to the topic of the article, and directly support the material as presented. Original research is not welcomed on Selena Wikipedia and can hinder the articles status or wanted status. Remember to use proper citations so no one can accuse you of adding "or" to any article. Vandalism Vandalism is any addition, removal, or change of content in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Selena Wikipedia. Examples of typical vandalism are adding irrelevant obscenities and crude humor to a page, illegitimately blanking pages, and inserting patent nonsense into a page. Vandalism is prohibited. While editors are encouraged to warn and educate vandals, warnings are by no means necessary for an administrator to block. Even if misguided, willfully against consensus, or disruptive, any good-faith effort to improve the encyclopedia is not vandalism. Edit warring over content is not vandalism. Careful consideration may be required to differentiate between edits that are beneficial, detrimental but well-intentioned, and vandalizing. Mislabelling good-faith edits as vandalism can be considered harmful. Upon their discovery, revert clearly vandalizing edits. Then warn the vandalizing editor. Notify administrators of vandalizing users who persist despite warnings, and administrators should intervene to protect content and prevent further disruption by blocking such users from editing. When warranted, accounts whose main or only use is obvious vandalism or other forbidden activity may be blocked even without warning. Neutral point of views Selena Wikipedia's editorial policy is that articles must be written in "neutral point of view," often abbreviated "NPOV." This policy says that we accept all the significant viewpoints on an issue. Instead of simply stating one perspective, we try to present all relevant viewpoints without judging them. Our aim is to be informative, not persuasive. Our policy does NOT mean that our articles are expected to be 100% "objective," since in any dispute all sides believe their view to be "true." You might hear fans referring to an article as having a "POV" problem. This is Selena Wikipedia slang for a biased article, or one obviously written from a single perspective. Advertising copy would fall in this category, as would a political diatribe. In a less extreme case, an article might have "POV" problems if it spends significantly more time discussing one view than another view of equivalent significance, even if each view is presented neutrally, or if the article gives excessive coverage to a minor viewpoint. Guidelines Manual of style Fancrut Fancrut are sentences, words and statements that are biased and not supported in sources. Statements such as "Selena is the best singer ever", "Selena may you live on", "Selena RIP" and "Selena I Love You!!!" are fancrut and are not welcomed here. This is an encyclopedia not a debate if Selena is the best singer on Earth. We want to show people from around the world of our Wikipedia and having biased statements in our articles would stare them in the wrong direction, we want to encourage them in our community and help out. So lets please be professional and helpful as much as possible. To leave heartfelt messages about why you are a fan, please leave comments here. Remember that the Quintanilla family may or may not see your comments. Please do not use fansites as a reliable source. Please use print media/online articles or secondary sources on the Internet instead, to enhance your articles status. Edit summaries When you edit an article, you can spot "Summary:" here its best encouraged that you write a short straight-to-the-point summary of the changed you just made to the article. For an example, if I expanded an article I would say "expanding", if I was to add just sources to an article I would write "adding sources". If I found fancrut or additions that are not supported I would write "removing fancrut". If you have done a lot more, then please state a straight-to-the-point summary. Please do not attack anybody either in your summary. You may find editors or IPs vandalizing articles and if you do, please stay cool and just write "removing vandalism" or such. If this happens again, please advise an admin for further assistance. Grammar and prose Not everyone in the world is perfect so its perfectly fine if you messed up on a article. Grammar and prose errors are normal in the human world and you shouldn't be bashed because of it! Here at Selena Wikipedia we try to help out our community. If you want an article to be reviewed by admins, college-level English language speakers and other fans who are good at fixing grammar errors and spotting them, you can nominate the article up for a peer review. There you can expect a comprehensive review on the article and additional comments that can help you fix the article for it to be nominated for SA status or GA status. What we do expect from you when you edit any article is; when you add content or expand the article to its fullest potential, please try your best to keep it clean. When we mean "clean" we mean, keeping the article at a flow where other readers can read it and better understand what you are trying to tell them. Add relevant content as well, don't add rubbish or nonsense to the articles. If spotted, this can be undone and you can be warned for this. This is a community where we strive to create articles at a well enough status and structure that can be enjoyed and read by many. With that being said, please cleanup your mess when you do edit, if there are any you can spot. It is better favored that you use college-level English words and not basic English. At WP:FA (Selena Quintanilla Wikipedia:Featured Article) they would want your articles to be written at a high level of English. Don't worry, that's where admins can help you out. They know all or most of the rules and guidelines that can help you write very good articles! Just ask one of the admins (on their talk page) for help. Remember, don't feel like you are alone here, there's always someone looking and seeking to help others. Also remember that you can look at other selected articles and good articles as a model for your article. If you still need help, please leave a message on this talk page which is located on the top of this page titled "discussion". Someone will help you out within the day you had asked for help. Wikipedia vs Selena Wikipedia Please do not copy and paste content from Wikipedia to Selena Wikipedia. Selena Wikipedia is a growing community and there should always be something to do to help us make this Wikipedia thrive and succeed. If you have expanded 100% or created an article (Selena-related) on Wikipedia and would like to request that your work to be moved here, please add the article's name to the list at the open requests. An admin will check to verify that you were the one who expanded that article 100% on Wikipedia. Violators who copy and paste content from Wikipedia may face being banned temporarily from Selena Wikipedia. However, you may use this template to copy and paste content from and to Selena Wikipedia. However, you cannot simply copy and paste it into the article itself, you must change a few words for the best and/or add content to it so it won't be violating someone else's work. Once you have done this, you can now add it to the article. Remember to use the template highlighted above on the talk page of the article you imported with the URL. Test pages/sandboxes If you do not want to edit an article just yet, you can always try using a test page or a sandbox. A sandbox, is a place where you can do anything you want! Nothing will be removed and you can add whatever you may wish. Please advise that you do not make a sandbox to make attacks or add non-free content as it will be removed. Please use the sandbox to help better your skills at writing or an incubation of an article you are working on. Its ok if someone helps out, Selena Wikipedia is based on helping each other out. If you wish to not have help in your sandbox, please ask nicely to that person that you would like to edit the page by yourself. Category:Selena Wikipedia policies and guidelines